By Jason Jones-Hall, Director of Five10Twelve

The Levelling Up White Paper, published on 2nd February 2022, included 107 references to how culture can support the levelling up agenda, with a promise that DCMS will further set out its plan to deliver to this agenda in the spring, including £40m of successful projects in England as part of the Cultural Investment Fund – which includes the Cultural Development Fund, (CDF).

At Creative UK’s Coalition Festival 2022, I hosted an expert panel, which included Creative Estuary Project Director, Emma Wilcox, that discussed the role of culture in engineering the levelling up agenda including:

• What interventions, partnerships and investments are required to lay the ground for a thriving cultural centre in regional towns and cities?
• What are the economic drivers and expected outcomes?
• To what extent do existing schemes – including CDF – support the levelling-up agenda?
• How can cultural organisations and creatives contribute to local decision-making and placemaking?
• How can culture and creatives reanimate our public spaces and shopping streets?
• How can the government support places without established artistic infrastructure to take full advantage of opportunities that the Levelling Up Fund provides?

Below I share the recording of the session.